Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Advent Begins

Advent, which means "coming" has begun! During this Christmas season, we are filled with joy, hope, and anticipation. We should take the time out of our busy lives and reflect on all that God has blessed us with rather than get caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping and planning for Christmas Day. We should dwell upon our lives and how we can be better prepared for the coming of Christ to save us and bring us eternal peace.In some ways, advent is related to school (haha) since we are hoping for the end to come in sight...It's already the end of the semester; we are done with classes and just have finals next week. School has been long and challenging, and we still have next semester and summer school left! I don't know how we've gotten this far, and I don't think we could do it over again....it is only with God's help, hope, and endurance that we can make it through the end of our college experience.

Now onto the food:As the weather gets cooler finally and the spirit of Christmas is approaching, we keep generating creative ideas of desserts and meals to make. Hopefully during the break we can put a lot of those ideas into action! Not as exciting, here is what our meals for this week consisted of....

"Tuna" Mushroom Casserole- with celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms, peas, bell peppers, chickpeas, LOTS of nutritional yeast, and a little sage, thyme, and oregano. (Didn't use soy sauce, veg broth, or paprika, and substituted white vinegar for the lemon juice). This was close to our old family recipe. We actually liked it without the bread crumb topping, and instead sprinkled some medium-ground cornmeal on top. Next time need to add more chickpeas, but overall it was awesome. The wheat spiral pasta gave a nice bite to the casserole.

Pumpkin Vinaigrette-Marinated tofu cutlets and broccoli - used up leftover pumpkin vinaigrette (from EatnVegan) that we made for Thanksgiving (posted in the last post). It was so tasty when heavily drizzled over the tofu and steamed broccoli. Yum!

Shredded Potato Pancakes - We were going for a simple German dinner, with warm applesauce and a slice of pumpernickle. The potatoes didn't wow us, though, as they were sort of raw tasting and hard work to prep. We added a lot of nutritional yeast, some thyme, and once in a while a drizzle of soy sauce to boost the flavor. Would just be easier to make roasted potatoes.

Black-eyed pea cakes, modified from the black bean burger recipe posted here - This burger recipe is the best! It can be easily adapted for different beans and flavors, and it makes a large batch to freeze and keep on hand for quick lunches.

Bran Carrot Bars with currants, adapted from Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars that we posted about here. Actually made this on a spur-of-the-moment to take a break from studying. These are soft healthy bars with a nice cinnamon, carrot, sweet flavor. Used wheat bran instead of oats, and added shredded carrots, currants, and 1/4 c. carrot juice. The bran and carrot give a chewy, coconut-like texture. (Sorry for the blurry picture)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Orange Rolls, adapted from Don't Eat off the Sidewalk's recipe - used all spelt flour, more cinnamon, and an orange glaze instead of vanilla. These are fantastic! Soft with a nice crumb, and the pumpkin, although subtle in flavor, boosts up the nutrition value. Way better than store bought cinnamon rolls. Like every cinnamon roll, they take work and time and, therefore, are only made once in a while for special breakfasts. We made enough that we could freeze the rest to have on hand for easy snacking!

Whew....such a long post!Wishing everyone a happy Advent season full of the joys of cooking and baking veg-friendly!Peace, LK

About Us

We are twin sisters who love food, nutrition, and health. Recent graduates of Texas A&M University, we are now living in Oregon busy with work at a natural food company. We especially love cooking and baking healthy vegan food and buying organic natural foods.
(In the next year or so, expect great products from Betty Lou's Inc! - http://bettylousinc.com )